Author F. Scott Fitzgerald wasn't too impressed by the houses on Summit Avenue, the grand boulevard in his hometown of St. Paul.
"A mausoleum of American architectural monstrosities," he once said of the avenue's stately parade of Queen Annes, Tudor Revivals and Mediterranean-inspired mansions.
But today, those historic homes are widely admired, and the Summit Hill neighborhood is considered one of the finest preserved enclave of Victorian-era houses in the country.
On Sept. 30, Twin Citians will get their chance to peek inside those parlors, libraries and lavish living rooms when the Summit Hill Association hosts its biennial house tour.
This year's tour showcases 12 private homes, including one that was once home to Fitzgerald, plus six public spaces.
Fitzgerald's house, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is an eight-unit stone row house, built in 1889. The author, then 23, lived in the three-level house in 1919, with his parents, while working on what would become his first published novel, "This Side of Paradise," loosely based on his experiences at Princeton.
The building, designed by architects William H. Willcox and Clarence H. Johnston Sr., has been described as "New York Style," with each of the eight units having a distinctive character, similar to row houses in Eastern cities.
The result is "a brownstone row house that leaves no Victorian style unaccounted for, although the general flavor is Romanesque Revival," wrote architectural historian Larry Millett in "AIA Guide to the Twin Cities."
